Family’s pet dog mauls eight-day-old baby girl to death

An eight-day-old baby girl from Virginia has died after being mauled by the family’s pet dog.

Lee County sheriff’s deputies said a ‘large shepherd-type’ attacked and mauled the infant while she lay in a bassinet.

Sheriff Gary Parsons says the infant’s upper body and head were injured by the mixed-breed animal.

He says his department was responding to a call about the mauling at around 11.46am on Wednesday, but the baby was already on the way to a hospital when deputies arrived, reported Kingsport Times-News.

Initially, her father drove her to Lonesome Pine Hospital in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, but due to the severity of her injuries she was first transferred to Holston Valley Medical Center in Kingsport and then to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.

The child succumbed to her injuries at around 4pm on Wednesday. The sheriff says social services are checking on the two older children living in the home.

The dog was taken to a pound to be placed into quarantine and will likely be euthanized, reported the station WJHL.

The sheriff says he’s checking with the commonwealth’s attorney to see if any charges can be filed. The baby has not been name as of Thursday morning. Dailymail Uk